Bridge

BRIDGE REGULATIONS

Last update 28/07/16

Last update 28/07/16

1. Organization

a. The Bridge Committee of the 20th Maccabiah will be responsible for the Bridge competitions of the 20th Maccabiah.

b. Participation in the championship is open to any player (male or female) who is in possession of a Participant Card, issued by the Organizing Committee of the 20th Maccabiah and is registered for the Bridge competitions.

c. Each country is authorized to enter one team consisting of no more than six members and a non-playing captain (a captain can be also a member of the team, in this case, a playing captain.)

d. The conditions of Contest herein set forth are supplemental to the General Conditions of Contest of the World Bridge Federation [ http://www.worldbridge.org/departments/rules/GeneralConditionsOfContest2011.pdf]

e. These supplemental Conditions of Contest and the General Conditions of Contest (where applicable) together form the set of Rules and Regulations of the Bridge Competitions of the 20th Maccabiah Games.

f. In the event of a discrepancy between the General and Supplemental Conditions, the provisions of the Supplemental Conditions shall apply.

2. Venues and times

The Sport department of the 20th Maccabiah will determine the venues and times of the Bridge competitions and teams will be notified accordingly.

3. System of play

a. Based on 4 teams, a Double Round Robin of 20 board matches will be played. If the number of the participating teams will be higher or lower, the number of boards will change accordingly. Results will be in Victory Points (V.Ps) according to the official new (2013) scale of the WBF (Max 20 VP). The relevant scale will be published before the beginning of the competition.

The 2 teams with the highest V.P. totals at the end of the Double Round Robin will qualify for the Finals, which will be played as knockout match of 40 boards, in 2 sessions of 20 boards each with IMP scoring. The other 2 teams would then play against each other for the 3rd. place, played as a knockout match of 40 boards, in 2 sessions of 20 boards each with IMP scoring. There will be no carry-over in any of the knockout matches.

b. The Competition is a System Category 3 throughout (Highly Unusual Methods and Brown Sticker conventions are not allowed). [http://www.worldbridge.org/departments/systems/policy.asp] Every System must be fully explained in English.

4. Line–ups

Team line–ups must be given to the Tournament Director in accordance with the time schedules outlined below. Failure of a captain to submit the line–up in timely fashion shall result in penalties. When the captain of the team that is to submit its line–up first for a match, or session, is late in filing, the opposing captain shall have five minutes from the time of the late submission in which to submit line–up without penalty.

The Visiting Team captain must submit line-ups for Round Robin matches as follows:

For the first match – 30 minutes prior to the start of the match.

For all subsequent matches – line ups should be submitted no later than 10min. after the end of the prior match.

The Home Team captain must submit line–ups not more than 5min. after the Visiting Team deadline, or 5min. after the Visiting Team line– up becomes available, whichever is later.

5. Ties

a. If two teams are tied with the same number of Victory Points at the end of the Round Robin, the tie shall be broken as follows:

1) Victory Points earned by the tied teams in the matches they played against each other. If the tie remains then:

2) Where that match has resulted in a tie in V.Ps any difference in IMPs will decide, If the tie remains then:

3) IMP quotient (total IMPs won divided by total IMPs lost) in all matches played by the tied teams. If the tie remains, then:

4) One board ("sudden death") matches will determine the winner.

b. If three or more teams are tied with the same number of Victory Points at the end of the Round Robin, ties shall be broken in the order and by the methods above eliminating teams that lose tie – breaks and applying the next method to teams that remain tied.

Seating assignments for the first sudden death board will be determined by drawing lots. Thereafter, the home/visiting teams will alternate.

6. Home Team – Visiting Team Designations

Round Robin when the draw takes place, each team is assigned Home Team and Visiting Team roles an approximately equal number of times. The chairman of the Organizing Committee shall make this assignment in accordance with the draw. The teams meet according to the schedule printed in the program. The Home Team sits throughout in the N/S position in the open Room and in the E/W position in the closed Room. The team mentioned first in the schedule printed in the program (left) is designated as the Home Team. The visiting team must submit line-ups first.

During the knockout phase, in the 2 session events, the higher ranked team from the Round Robin phase may choose to be the home or visiting team in the first session. Home/Away seating will be reversed for the second session. In the 3 session final, the higher ranked team from the Round Robin stage has seating rights for the first and third sessions.

7. Substitutes

a. If for any reason a team is unable to produce four players, either at the start of a session or because of an emergency that develop during the session, the Tournament Director may designate a substitute to allow the match to proceed. A substitute need to be a member of the NCBO represented by the team on which he or she substitutes; however, a substitute may not be a member of another team initially entered in the contest, nor to be ineligible.

b. The Tournament Director, having designed a substitute, must inform the Chairman of the Tournament Appeal Committee, or his designee, as soon as practicable and shall provide him a written note of the circumstances. Whether the result of a match in which a substitute has played shall stand, whether the score(s) shall be adjusted and what penalties if any shall be imposed are decided by the Tournament Appeals Committee.

8. Official Language

English is the official language of the tournament. During a match, the players may converse only in English unless both captains agree to use some other language at their own risk. If necessary, each captain is responsible for the provision of an interpreter for translation into English. No appeals due to misunderstanding in a language other than English will be heard.

9. Obligation to Disclose Systems and Conventions

Players are required to make an adequate initial written disclosure of their System, and to make a full and true disclosure of the meaning of any call or play in response to a proper question at the table from an opponent.

The onus of disclosure is on the user. When there is a claim of damage through inadequate disclosure, the Tournament Director and the Tournament Appeal Committee will give benefit of any doubt to the opponents.

Players are reminded that 2 copies of the System Card must be brought to each match and given to the opponents.

10. Forfeits

If a team is unable to play, or complete a match, the Tournament Appeals Committee may find that the team to be in default and declare the match forfeited. The team in forfeit shall score zero Victory Points and zero IMPs' for that match. The team winning the forfeited match shall receive 18 Victory Points, or the average nmber of Victory Points won by the team in all of its other matches, of the forfeiting team in matches played against that team whichever is greater (if it becomes necessary, for the tie-breaking or carry-over, to assign an IMP score, the winning team receives the average number of IMPs' earning the assigned Victory Points score).

11. Disqualification

In case a team is disqualified, all matches it played prior to its disqualification shall be declared void and scores earned by its opponents in those matches shall be cancelled.

12. Result Card

A Table Result Card must be filled-in by the North or South player at each table. This card must show the final contract and result on each board played and shall be initialed by the North and East players before they leave the table. The Table Result Card will be used for determining official results and must be handed to a Directory promptly after the result of the match has been agreed or as soon as a disagreement about the result becomes known.

13. Reporting of Results

After each match the teams are expected to compute the results themselves. It is the joint responsibility of the two captains to inform a Director of the agreed result of the match as soon as possible after the match has ended. Failure by a captain to comply shall render his team liable to procedural penalty.

If the two captains cannot agree on the result of the match the chief Tournament Director or Tournament Director shall adjudicate the dispute by reference to the Table Results Cards and another relevant matters, and shall post the official score.

14. Substitute Boards

A "substitute board" is one introduced into play in a match to replace a board already played at one, or both tables. Depending upon the decision of the Tournament Director, the results of a substitute board may, or may not, be counted as part of the match. Substitute boards are put into play by the Tournament Director either on his own volition or by the direction of the Tournament Appeals Committee.

15. Penalties

Victory Point penalties, where applicable, shall be deducted from the score of the offending team at the conclusion of each round.

a. Failure to submit Line–up on time If a captain fails to submit his line-ups:

1) For the first offence the Director shall issue a warning.

2) For second offence there shall be a fine of 10 $ (in shekels).

3) For a third or subsequent offence, there shall be a fine of 15 $ (in shekels).

b. Lateness: Any team not seated and ready to play at the announced starting time of a match or segment thereof may be assessed penalties as follows:

1) During the Round Robin

0-5 minutes late: first time – Warning to captain (after the second warning the provision for 5+ minutes shall apply)

5-10 minutes late – One VP

10-15 minutes late – Two VP

15-20 minutes late – three VP

20-25 minutes late – Four VP

Over 25 minutes late: At the discretion of the Tournament Appeals Committee. May include forfeiture of match or recommendation to 20th Maccabiah Bridge Organizing Committee for disqualification of offending team

2) During the Knockout phase:

0-5 minutes late: first time – Warning to captain (after the first warning the provision for 5+ minutes shall apply)

5-25 minutes late – 1 IMP plus an additional 1 IMP for each full minute or part thereof beyond 5 minutes

Over 25 minutes late: minimum 30 IMPS plus 2 IMPS for every 5 minutes, but after 40 minutes the match is cancelled and considered a walk-over.

For the above purposes (lateness and slow play) the Round Robin phase and the knock out phase are considered to be separate events. Thus any warnings issued during the Round robin are not carried over into the knock out phase.

c. Slow Play

If a team has been penalized, any fine for slow play in that portion of the match shall be based on time at which all players were seated at the table and ready to play. The imposition of the penalties, in accordance with the following charts, is automatic immediately upon expiration of the time period. There shall be no additional "grace period". The time allowed for a 20-board session shall be three hours, for 16-boards session the time shall be two hours and 25 minutes and at that rate for additional boards to break ties.

1) During the Round Robin

0-5 minutes late: 0.5 VP

5-10 minutes late: 1.0 VP

10-15 minutes late: 1.5 VP

15-20 minutes late: 2.0 VPs

20-25 minutes late: 2.5 VPs

Over 25 minutes late: At the discretion of Tournament Appeals Committee, and may include forfeiture of match or recommendation to the Maccabiah Executive Council for disciplinary action.

If the Tournament Director judges that the delay in a match was caused by the excessive use of time by one of the teams, he may impose a penalty on that team only. When a player believes that play of an opponent is unusually slow, he should summon the Tournament Director.

If the Tournament Director decides that the delay in a match was caused by the excessive use of time by both teams, penalties will be assessed against the two teams in proportion to the degree of guilt shared by the two teams.

Matches may be timed by an officials designated by the Chief Tournament Director.

2) During the Knockout phase:

0-25 minutes late 1 IMP for each minute or part thereof.

Over 25 minutes late Provisions of the WBF shall apply.

Note: For the above purposes (lateness and slow play) the Round Robin phase and the knock out phase are considered to be separate events. Thus any warnings issued during the Round robin are not carried over into the knock out phase.

16. Fouled Board

If a board is fouled and it can be determined that one side was clearly at fault that side shall be subject to procedural penalty.

17. Screens, Bidding Boxes and International Code

Screens and bidding boxes will be in use throughout and their use is mandatory.

18. Rulings and Appeals

a. The Tournament Director shall be summoned to a table as soon as attention is drawn to an irregularity. After the Director has given his ruling, any appeal against such ruling must be lodged. An Appeal shall not be heard unless the captain of the team concurs in appealing. A player and his captain may appeal against the ruling of the Tournament Director provided the appeal is made within 30 minutes of the conclusion of the match.

b. An Appeal Committee shall deal with all appeals against the ruling of the Tournament Director. A lodged appeal must be accompanied by a deposit of $ 50 (in shekels). The deposit will be refunded unless the Appeals Committee determines that the appeal was without merit. All monies thus received will be donated to a local charity.

19. Ethics and Deportment

Participation in these Championships is by invitation of the Maccabiah. The privilege of the representing one's country carries with it an obligation to adhere to the rules of good sportsmanship, correct deportment and, above all, irreproachable ethics. In the absence of penalties expressed in monetary fines, IMPs or VPs, and because participants no longer appear as private individuals, but are public representatives, observance of the highest standards becomes the more imperative. Players are therefore urged to familiarize themselves with the Proprieties (Laws 72-75). Players, captains and teams are expected to accept all decisions of the Tournament Appeals Committee in a sportsmanlike manner.

If the captains of both teams are in the room, they shall sit on the same side of the screen.

In case of dispute the Home Team captain shall decide on which side of the screen they will sit.

Once any player at the table has withdrawn a hand from the board, and until all four players have returned their hands to the board, a non-playing captain is bound by the normal restrictions upon spectators (Law 76), except that he may intervene to restrain misbehavior or curtail unnecessary discussion on the part of his team members and may speak to questions of fact or Law after the Tournament Director has been called to the table (but may not call the Tournament Director).

During the time allowed for a session, whether play is actually taking place at the moment or not, a non-playing captain should not address members of his team at the table in any but the English language, or in a language understood by the opponents. If it is desired to use a language other than English, the permission of the opponents should be sought, and where reasonably possible should be given. If difficulty arises, a non-playing captain wishing to speak to his team in a language not known to the opponents should do so through an interpreter or team member who can translate for the benefit of the opponents.

Non-playing captains are responsible for the performance of various functions detailed throughout these Conditions of Contest. While the Maccabiah recognizes the importance of other team officials (such as deputy-captain, coach, etc.), it is only the non-playing captain that they may perform some of the official functions assigned to the non-playing captain specifically. They may not enter a playing room unless the non-playing captain withdraws for the rest of these championships and then only with the permission of the Tournament Appeals Committee.

General

a. These regulations are but one part of the complete 20th Maccabiah regulations, and must be read along with the instructions found in "Basic Regulations and Disciplinary Procedures".

b. In the event of a discrepancy between the regulations written here and those appearing in the "Basic Regulations", the regulations written here will apply and be binding.